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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Privy Council
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Nowadays a body of largely formal status, though officially still the private council of the sovereign. There are usually between 300 and 400 privy councillors, appointed for life. They include all cabinet ministers (sworn in when first taking office) and others of distinction in such fields as politics, the law and the church. Some members are always from the *Commonwealth.
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In its origin the council was a body of great power, being from the 14C the executive through which the sovereign ruled. But it was already losing power in the early 17C to a smaller group, the *cabinet; and with the arrival of *constitutional monarchy it was the cabinet which became pre-eminent.
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